Grip for beverage container

ABSTRACT

A beverage container with a grip formed in side and bottom walls thereof. The grip includes a V-shaped groove on a side wall that receives a finger of a consumer (e.g., a thumb or set of fingers) and a recess formed in a bottom wall of the container to receive one or more other fingers of the consumer&#39;s hand. When gripped in this fashion a lower corner of the bottle may be located in the palm of the consumer&#39;s hand. The groove in the side wall is formed in the side wall sufficiently close to the bottom wall to allow the hands of most consumers to use the grip. The V shape points upward. Either side of the V can be used depending on whether the consumer wishes to grip with their right hand or their left hand.

This invention relates generally to beverage containers, and moreparticularly to grips for beverage containers.

BACKGROUND

Gallon sized containers are popular for the retail sale of flavoredbeverages to consumers. Some of these beverages may be hot-filled intothe containers in the case of 100% pure juices, for example, while otherbeverages may be cold-filled into the containers. The containers aretypically made of plastic, and may be manufactured via injectionmolding, blow molding, or some other suitable method.

There are several design criteria for such containers. First of all,because of the size of the container and the significant weight of thecontainer when filled to capacity with liquid, the containers typicallyinclude a handle or grip for ease of use by the consumer. It is alsopreferable to have a gallon size bottle be as volumetrically small aspossible (occupy the least amount of shelf space), as this may bepreferred by store owners and consumers. Another important considerationis that producers, distributors, and sellers of these products prefer topalletize many containers onto a single pallet, including stacking thebottles vertically on top of each other several layers high.

Pass-through handles are popular, but they do have some disadvantages.First of all, it is difficult to produce bottles with pass-throughhandles via blow molding techniques. Second, depending on the size andtype of the pass-through handle, it can increase the width or height ofthe one gallon bottle.

Some blow-molded bottles have a pair of opposed features notched out ofthe side of the bottle to produce what is known as a pinch grip, whichis grasped by the consumer with a thumb in one feature and fingers inthe opposing feature. These pinch grips can work well, but depending ontheir size and type, they can reduce the top-load strength and increasethe height and width of the one gallon bottle.

Another type of handle which is popular is a separate bail handle thatis attached to the opening of the bottle. Bail handles, when used alone,are generally used to transport product rather than pour product out.Bail handles are typically located at the bottom of the neck finish of abottle and are too high on the bottle, and too far away from the centerof gravity to be used to pour product alone. Bail handles must be usedwith a second grip feature of some kind in order to be used as a pouringmechanism.

It is against this background and with a desire to improve on the priorart that a grip for a beverage container has been developed.

SUMMARY

A beverage container is provided that includes a bottom wall and a sidewall attached to the bottom wall. The side wall defines an opening on anupper portion thereof. The side wall has a groove formed in an outersurface thereof to receive one or more fingers of a hand of a user whenthe user is pouring liquid out of the container. The groove has aportion that is sloped to run from a position that is relatively closerto the bottom wall to a position that is relatively further from thebottom wall. The bottom and side walls are formed to contain liquidswithin the container, the liquids being provided to and removed from thecontainer via the opening.

The bottom wall may have a recessed portion formed therein to receiveone or more other fingers of the hand of the user when the user ispouring liquid out of the container. The user may place their thumb inthe groove and one or more of the other fingers on their hand in therecess. The groove may have two portions that are sloped to run from aposition that is relatively closer to the bottom wall to a position thatis relatively further from the bottom wall. The two portions may besloped in opposite directions. The two portions together may form a Vshape. The V shape may point away from the bottom wall.

The side wall may include four faces that each extend from the bottomwall up toward the opening, with the groove formed in a single one ofthe faces. Each of the faces may be slightly curved with respect to alongitudinal axis and the faces join to adjacent faces at rounded edges.A bottom corner of the container may be formed by the conjunction of thebottom wall and any two of the faces, and the bottom and side walls andthe groove may be configured to allow a user to grasp each of the grooveand at least a portion of the bottom wall to allow the user to pourliquid out of the container while holding one of the bottom corners ofthe container. The user may hold the bottom corner of the container inthe palm of their hand.

Another aspect of the beverage container relates to a container with abottom wall and a side wall attached to the bottom wall. The side walldefines an opening on an upper portion thereof, with the side wallincluding at least three faces that each extend from the bottom wall uptoward the opening. The side wall has a gripping portion formed in anouter surface of one of the faces to receive one or more fingers of ahand of a user when the user is pouring liquid out of the container. Abottom corner of the container is formed by the conjunction of thebottom wall and any two of the faces. The bottom wall and side walls areformed to contain liquids within the container, the liquids beingprovided to and removed from the container via the opening. The bottomand side walls and the gripping portion on the face of the side wall areconfigured to allow a user to grasp each of the gripping portion and atleast a portion of the bottom wall to allow the user to pour liquid outof the container while holding one of the bottom corners of thecontainer.

The gripping portion on the side wall may include a groove having aportion that is sloped to run from a position that is relatively closerto the bottom wall to a position that is relatively further from thebottom wall.

Numerous additional features and advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration ofthe further description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear elevation view of a beverage container and a recessedgrip located thereon.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of a left side of the container of FIG.1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a close-up partial sectional side elevation view of therecessed grip of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1 being held bytwo hands of a user while pouring liquid out of the container.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1 with a bailhandle attached thereto being held by two hands of a user while pouringliquid out of the container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which assist inillustrating the various pertinent features of the beverage container.Although the invention will now be described primarily in conjunctionwith beverage containers, it should be expressly understood that theinvention may be applicable to other applications where grips forobjects are required/desired. In this regard, the following descriptionof a beverage container is presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. Furthermore, the description is not intended to limit theinvention to the form disclosed herein. Consequently, variations andmodifications commensurate with the following teachings, and skill andknowledge of the relevant art, are within the scope of the packagingdesign. The embodiments described herein are further intended to explainmodes known of practicing the invention and to enable others skilled inthe art to utilize the invention in such, or other embodiments and withvarious modifications required by the particular application(s) oruse(s) of the beverage container.

A bottle 10 includes an inverted V- or chevron-shaped groove 12 formedin a side wall 14 thereof. The bottle 10 could be any of a variety ofdifferent types and shapes of bottles. For illustrative purposes only,the bottle 10 described herein may be a blow-molded plastic bottlehaving a one-gallon capacity. As can be seen in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6, thebottle may be a generally square bottle with four slightly curved sidewalls 14, 16, 18, and 20 that meet at rounded edges. On a bottom side ofthe bottle 10 is a bottom wall 22 that joins each of the side walls 14,16, 18, and 20. Located on an upper side of the bottle 10 is a crown 24that joins with each of the side walls 14, 16, 18, and 20. The crown 24has a cylindrical opening 26 defined at an upper end thereof for pouringliquids into and out of the bottle 10.

Each of the side walls 14, 16, 18, and 20 have a plurality of ribs 27(FIGS. 1, 2, and 6) formed therein to strengthen the bottle 10, inparticular increasing the top loading capacity of the bottle 10 bystrengthening the side walls 14, 16, 18, and 20. Four corners 28, 30,32, and 34 are formed, one at each of the conjunctions of a pair ofadjacent side walls and the bottom wall 22. The groove 12 is located onthe side wall 14 relatively closer to the bottom wall 22 than to thecrown 24. As can be seen in FIGS. 1, 5, 6, and 7, the groove includestwo sloped portions 36 and 38 that each start near side edges of theside wall 14 and slope slightly upward to where they join together in acentral portion of the side wall 14.

As seen best in FIGS. 4 and 7, the bottom wall 22 is domed to define arecess 40 that protrudes slightly toward the interior of the bottle 10.The bottom wall 22 also includes a plurality of radial ribs 42 definedtherein for strengthening purposes.

The crown 24 includes surfaces that slope more upward than inward sothat the crown 24 is generally more vertically-extending thanhorizontally-extending. This feature of the crown also increases the toploading capacity of the bottle 10.

The opening 26 defined at the upper end of the crown 24 is generallysmooth and cylindrical on an interior surface thereof and is externallythreaded on an exterior surface thereof to receive a mating cap (notshown). Located on the exterior surface of the opening just below theexternal threads is a lip 44 that may be used to retain a separate bailhandle 54 that can be provided for aid in pouring liquid from the bottle10, as shown in FIG. 9.

Alternatively, a consumer can pour liquid out of the bottle 10 bygrasping the crown 24 of the bottle 10 with their left hand 46 andgrasping the corner 28 of the bottle 10 with their right hand 48. Moreparticularly, as shown in FIG. 8, the consumer can place the thumb 50 oftheir right hand 48 into one portion 36 of the groove 12 while thecorner 28 of the bottle 10 is in the palm of the right hand 48 and oneor more fingers 52 of their right hand 48 are placed into the recess 40of the bottom wall 22. In this manner, the bottle 10 can be controlledquite easily by the consumer while pouring liquid therefrom.Alternatively, a left-handed consumer could place their right hand onthe crown 24 of the bottle 10 and their left hand into the oppositeportion 38 of the groove 12 while grasping the corner 30 of the bottle10. Several other alternative gripping arrangements utilizing the groove12 are also possible. As stated above (and shown in FIG. 9), it ispossible to use the bail handle 54 with the upper hand and have thelower hand gripping one of the corners and the groove as alreadydescribed.

The spacing between the groove 12 and the recess 40 may be such as tofit an optimal number of the hands of adult and older children. Oneexample of such a spacing may be in the range of two to four inches.

As can be appreciated, there are many advantages to the beveragecontainer described herein. One advantage relates to having a grippingfeature that allows the consumer to grasp a lower corner 28 of thebottle 10 in the palm of one of their hands. This may be advantageousbecause it places a controlling hand near the bottom of the bottle 10,which may be closer to the center of gravity as the bottle contains lessand less fluids. Prior art handles at the top of the bottle were locatedfurther and further from the center of gravity as the bottle wasemptied. In addition, the gripping features of the bottle 10 areachieved largely with the groove 12, the corner 28, and the recess 40without creating features that dramatically intrude into the interior ofthe bottle 10, which would decrease the volumetric capacity of thebottle. Furthermore, the gripping features of the bottle do little todecrease the top loading strength of the bottle 10. This may bedistinguishable from many prior art bottles in which gripping features,particularly those that intruded toward the interior of the bottle, diddecrease the top loading strength of the bottle. Not all of theseadvantages are necessarily found in each of the embodiments.

The foregoing description of the beverage container has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description. Furthermore, thedescription is not intended to limit the invention to the form disclosedherein. For example, it should be appreciated that the exact shape,style, and position of the groove could be varied, as long as a grippingfeature is provided that allows the consumer to place the corner of thebottle into the palm of their hand. One particular example might involvethe groove being shaped in a fanciful manner such as to resemble a sideview of an ocean wave. Consequently, variations and modificationscommensurate with the above teachings, and skill and knowledge of therelevant art, are within the scope of the invention. The embodimentsdescribed hereinabove are further intended to explain best modes knownof practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in the art toutilize the invention in such, or other embodiments and with variousmodifications required by the particular application(s) or use(s) of theinvention. It is intended that the appended claims be construed toinclude alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the priorart.

1-24. (canceled)
 25. A beverage container, comprising: a bottom wall;and a side wall attached to the bottom wall, the side wall defining anopening on an upper portion thereof; wherein the bottom wall includes arecessed portion formed therein and the side wall includes a grooveformed in an outer surface thereof such that when a user is pouringliquid out of the beverage container, the recessed portion may receiveone or more fingers of a hand of the user while the groove receives oneor more other fingers of the hand of the user; wherein the bottom walland the side wall are formed to contain liquids within the beveragecontainer; wherein the liquids are provided to and removed from thebeverage container via the opening.
 26. A beverage container as definedin claim 25, wherein the side wall includes at least three faces thateach extend from the bottom wall up toward the opening, with the grooveformed in a single one of the faces.
 27. A beverage container as definedin claim 26, wherein each of the faces is slightly curved with respectto a longitudinal axis and the faces join to adjacent faces at roundededges.
 28. A beverage container as defined in claim 26, wherein thebeverage container is a bottle.
 29. A beverage container as defined inclaim 25, wherein the beverage container has a central axis and theopening is symmetric about the central axis.
 30. A beverage container asdefined in claim 25, wherein the groove has a portion that is sloped torun from a position that is relatively closer to the bottom wall to aposition that is relatively further from the bottom wall.
 31. A beveragecontainer as defined in claim 30, wherein the beverage container is abottle.
 32. A beverage container as defined in claim 25, wherein theopening is smaller than the bottom wall.
 33. A beverage container asdefined in claim 25, wherein the beverage container is a bottle.
 34. Abeverage container, comprising: a bottom wall, the bottom wall having arecessed portion formed therein to receive one or more fingers of a handof a user when the user is pouring liquid out of the beverage container;and a side wall attached to the bottom wall, the side wall defining anopening on an upper portion thereof, the side wall having a grooveformed in an outer surface thereof to receive one or more other fingersof the hand of the user when the user is pouring liquid out of thebeverage container; wherein the groove has a portion that is sloped torun from a position that is relatively closer to the bottom wall to aposition that is relatively further from the bottom wall; wherein thebottom wall and the side wall are formed to contain liquids within thebeverage container; wherein the liquids are provided to and removed fromthe beverage container via the opening; wherein the user may place athumb in the recessed portion and one or more of the other fingers inthe groove.
 35. A beverage container as defined in claim 34, wherein thebeverage container is a bottle.
 36. A beverage container as defined inclaim 34, wherein the opening is smaller than the bottom wall.
 37. Abeverage container, comprising: a bottom wall, wherein a bottom surfaceof the bottom wall has a recessed portion formed therein to receive oneor more fingers of a hand of a user when the user is pouring liquid outof the container; and a side wall attached to the bottom wall, the sidewall defining an opening on an upper portion thereof, the side wallhaving a groove formed in an outer surface thereof to receive one ormore other fingers of the hand of the user when the user is pouringliquid out of the container; wherein the groove has a length and awidth; wherein a portion of the length of the groove is sloped to runfrom a position that is relatively closer to the bottom wall to aposition that is relatively further from the bottom wall; wherein thebottom wall and the side wall are formed to contain liquids within thecontainer; wherein the liquids are provided to and removed from thecontainer via the opening.
 38. A beverage container as defined in claim37, wherein the side wall includes a crown portion, said containerhaving a cross sectional area defined by the side wall and parallel tothe bottom wall, wherein within at least a portion of the crown portion,said cross sectional area of said container decreases as a distance fromthe bottom wall increases.
 39. A beverage container as defined in claim37, wherein the side wall further comprises at least three faces thateach extend from the bottom wall up toward the opening, with the grooveformed in a single one of the faces.
 40. A beverage container as definedin claim 37, wherein the beverage container is a bottle.
 41. A beveragecontainer, comprising: a bottom wall; and a side wall attached to thebottom wall, the side wall defining an opening on an upper portionthereof, the side wall having a groove formed in an outer surfacethereof to receive one or more fingers of a hand of a user when the useris pouring liquid out of the container; wherein the groove has a lengthand a width; wherein a first portion of the length of the groove issloped to run from a position that is relatively closer to the bottomwall to a position that is relatively further from the bottom wall;wherein a second portion of the length of the groove is sloped to runfrom a position that is relatively closer to the bottom wall to aposition that is relatively further from the bottom wall; wherein thefirst portion is disposed at an angle with respect to the secondportion; wherein the groove has a maximum width that allows the user toposition the entire width of a thumb within the groove; wherein thebottom wall and the side wall are formed to contain liquids within thecontainer; wherein the liquids are provided to and removed from thecontainer via the opening.
 42. A beverage container as defined in claim41, wherein the first and second portions of the length of the grooveintersect each other and form a V.
 43. A beverage container as definedin claim 42, wherein a point of the V points away from the bottom wall.44. A beverage container as defined in claim 43, wherein the side wallincludes at least three faces that each extend from the bottom wall uptoward the opening, with the groove formed in a single one of the faces.45. A beverage container as defined in claim 41, wherein the side wallincludes at least three faces that each extend from the bottom wall uptoward the opening, with the groove formed in a single one of the faces.46. A beverage container as defined in claim 45, wherein the first andsecond portions of the length of the groove intersect each other andform a V.
 47. A beverage container as defined in claim 41, wherein thefirst and second portions are each linear.
 48. A beverage container asdefined in claim 41, wherein the beverage container is a bottle.
 49. Abeverage container as defined in claim 41, wherein the first portionincludes a first end of the groove.